Police Release IDs Of Men Who Fled Pleasantville After Crashing Stolen Car

Ernest A. Nicholas of Mount VernonPhoto Credit: Provided/Pleasantville Police DepartmentKaron T. Broddie of BrooklynPhoto Credit: Provided/Pleasantville Police DepartmentA stolen car ended up in the backyard of a Bedford Road home near Manville Road in Pleasantville overnight. A pair of fleeing suspects was caught near Chappaqua Train Station about 7:30 a.m., five hours after the crash.Photo Credit: Google Maps

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PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. -- Police identified two 22-year-old men late Thursday who crashed a stolen car in Pleasantville overnight before fleeing to Chappaqua.

Pleasantville Police credited local citizens who dialed 911 and a half dozen other law enforcement agencies -- including a Westchester County Police helicopter -- for tracking the suspects down five hours later near the Chappaqua Train Station.

Thursday's chase began about 2:30 a.m. when Pleasantville Police Officer James Chiarlitti tried to stop a 2015 Honda Civic near Memorial Plaza.

The suspects immediately fled down Manville Road. They were unable to negotiate the intersection of Manville Road with Bedford Road (Route 117), police said, crashing through hedges and a vinyl fence before landing in the backyard of a home on Bedford Road.

Both occupants fled the accident scene on foot. Members of the Greenburgh Police Department went to the home of the registered owner of the wrecked Honda, police said. The owner reported that she had not yet realized that her Honda was stolen.

A perimeter search was established with the assistance of the Mount Pleasant and New Castle police departments as well as state Department of Environmental Protection officers.

Dogs from state police and Metropolitan Transit Authority K9 units also assisted in the search along with the Westchester County Police Aviation Unit.

At about 7 a.m., a resident walking along Washington Avenue en route to the Chappaqua Train Station called 911 to report that two males had just entered the backyard of a home near Pierce Drive.

The area on the west side of Washington Avenue and south of the Chappaqua Train Station was searched by police. The Westchester County Aviation Unit used its "FLIR" thermal imaging camera and detected the heat signatures of two people hiding in an overgrown area that was all but impossible to search from the ground, according to police.

One of the suspects was located and taken into custody. The second suspect evaded capture, police said, but was arrested about 7:30 a.m. Police credited a second civilian who called 911 after seeing the second suspect emerge from the brush and walk to the Chappaqua Train Station.

Officers located that suspect on the train platform and took him into custody.

Arrested were:

-- Karon T. Broddie, 22, of Brooklyn who was identified as the driver of the stolen car. Broddie was charged with:criminal possession of stolen property.

-- Ernest A. Nicholas of 46 W 4th St. in Mount Vernon, the passenger, who was charged with criminal possession of marijuana.

The investigation continues and additional charges are likely, police said.

"If it wasn't for the fact that people took the time to pick up the phone, we would not have been able to apprehend these two guys," Pleasantville Police Chief Erik Grutzner said, calling it "a total group effort."